Nashville-based singer-songwriter Charlie Worsham has released his new EP – Sugarcane – out everywhere today, including the hit track ‘Fist Through This Town.’ Here, we review the EP and give our thoughts. Stream the EP here.
Charlie Worsham has grafted for many years in Nashville, earning his place in the industry – respected both as an artist and songwriter. It has been some years since Worsham’s last project, The Beginning of Things in 2017, but today he is back, releasing his new EP – Sugarcane – that is a testament to that journey, from ‘For the Love’ and ‘Fist Through This Town’ that lay out the trials and tribulations of life as a musician to songs about his love for his wife (‘Sugarcane’ ‘Half Drunk’). Sugarcane posits Worsham again as an artist who fiercely defies the stereotypes of country music and commercial trappings, creating music that is compelling in its authenticity. This is not to say that the project does not have widespread appeal – produced by Jay Joyce – Sugarcane is a reflectively introspective yet universally emotional record that celebrates the spectrum of human emotion, from perseverance to joy, love and everything in between.
On ‘Sugarcane’ and ‘Half Drunk’ Worsham turns to love as his central tenet, in two nostalgically groovy tracks. Both are juicily groovy tracks that brim with a sultry appeal and lyricism as Worsham sings an indulgently worshipful tribute to his wife, ‘Half-drunk, half-joking, half-crazy / From day one you’ve been the one, baby / Just ’cause I went and said what I meant / Don’t mean I didn’t mean it a hundred percent / I love you and hope you won’t hate me / Just ’cause I may be / Half-drunk, half-joking, half-crazy / ‘Cause I’m all the way into you.’ It’s sweetly and subtly done, where the grooving production reigns it back from the edge of sentimentality. Elsewhere, Worsham returns to his more ardently blue-collar country roots in ‘Believe in Love’ that is a moving and earnest track that tugs on every emotional heartstring left intact. More than anything, it’s a song about hope that feels necessary given the current climate, ‘I believe our better days / Are up ahead and not behind / I believe we’ll have our struggles / But they’ll get sweeter with time / I believe everything I give you / You’ll take to heart and keep it safe / And I believe the time we spent apart / Was well worth the wait.’ The production married with Worsham’s vocal is intense in its ability to elicit emotion – a masterstroke.
The two standout tracks are the most quietly raw – ‘For the Love’ and ‘Fist Through This Town’ that both tell the story of the hardship of life of as a musician and the graft that it takes to attain any measure of success, both are arresting, slapping you in their face with their blue-collar depiction of life before success. Both are scintillating in their poetic lyricism as Worsham lovingly lays bare the life that he struggled through to get to his current position, ‘I wanna put my fist through this town / I ain’t a fighter but I’d knock it to the ground / I ain’t a killer but I’d let that bastard drown / I wanna put my fist through this town.’
The project rolls out with the swelling notes of ‘Hang On To That’ – a powerfully nostalgic track looking back on his journey so far, a quietly sweeping track that will lead you right back into clicking repeat for the entire EP. Worsham is an artist who doesn’t need to scream or shout with his music, he simply seems to lay it on the table and say ‘here you go’ for the listener to melt into his compelling voice and lyricism – a true master of his craft.
